And as Roberto Di Matteo began to dream of the ­ultimate knockout double, he knew that had it not been for Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, the FA Cup would probably have been wearing red ribbons not blue ones.

(Image: Darren Walsh / Getty)

At Wembley, as on so many occasions over the past eight trophy-laden Chelsea seasons, it was Mourinho’s core men who did the damage.

Lampard, bossing the first hour with his passing range and acute tactical ­intelligence, Drogba with yet another Wembley goal, yet another winner.

Behind them, Terry the beacon of resistance, standing tall against the late Andy Carroll-led bombardment.

(Image: Shaun Botterill)

And, in the crunch moment, Cech with a cup final save to place ­alongside Jim ­Montgomery’s 1973 effort to deny Leeds, a wonder-stop to win the famous old trophy.

Munich beckons, of course, and in truth Chelsea’s campaign will be judged by what happens in Bavaria on May 19.

Yet for now, in the ­afterglow of a triumph that became far nervier than it seemed set to be, tribute was due to the cornerstones of a fourth FA Cup victory in the six years since the match returned to Wembley.

(Image: Shaun Botterill)

“We do get too obsessed by players’ ages,” suggested Di Matteo. “If you live a ­professional life and you train well, you can prolong your career.

“Physiologically it changes a little bit because your recovery time will be a bit different, but careers are much longer now than ­probably 15 years ago.

“We have had a very ­difficult season. But there is a lot of quality and ambition in this team. In adversity it seems to come out.

(Image: Laurence Griffiths - The FA)

“The players dig very deep into their reserves, and we seem to be able to face all the ­problems and ­difficulties people throw at us.”

They do. And delivered time and again, although quite how Cech managed to claw away Carroll’s header eight minutes from time defied belief and geometry.

“I was calling him Gordon Banks in the dressing room because from where I was it was a goal, simple as that, once it was set up for Carroll,” said Lampard.

(Image: Clive Mason /Getty)

“Keepers win games and they don’t maybe get the credit that goalscorers do. Petr won that game for us with that save alone.”

He did, destroying the belief Liverpool had gained after Carroll twisted Terry to thrash home. In truth, though, Cech’s save served to ensure that the justice of the first hour was done.

Pepe Reina’s inglorious part in the 11th-minute opener from Ramires was shared by Jose Enrique, as Liverpool froze.

Sweet FA: Chelsea lift the Cup after beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final at Wembley (Image: Shaun Botterill)

And Chelsea’s early ­superiority was confirmed when Lampard found Drogba, who made Martin Skrtel pay for his reluctance to close the shot down.

It was Drogba’s fourth goal in four FA Cup finals, the third winner after the strikes against Manchester United in 2007 and Portsmouth three years later.

Drogba – seemingly China-bound – kissed the pitch at the end, signs of a farewell to the stadium that bears his huge imprint.

Terry said: “The big players step up on the big occasions and Didi and Big Pete did exactly that.”